/, T7 c, cl JWte' J /7i jiy/ THEE j A Reconstructed Piano-vocal Score with Commentary on the Historical Background G J1 Edited by O Robert E. Knox, Jr. e The Observer Press Anson, Texas, 1978 A 'I.. Copyright 1978 by Robert E. Knox, Jr. Knox, Robert Erskine, Jr., The Lady of the Lake: A Reconstructed Piano-Vocal Score with Commentary on the Historical Background. Master of Music (Musicology), May, 1979, 137 pp., 11 half leaves, 2 plates, 1 table, bibliography, 42 titles. The document consists of a commentary on the historical background of the work and an edition of the restored score. The commentary treats its relationship to the ballad opera, sources and alternate settings of the music and libretto, a history of the development of "Hail to the Chief," biographical sketches of the primary composers, and a section on early productions in England and America. The commentary includes a history of the English and American premieres, lengths of the first-runs, and the names of the theatres in which the performances were mounted. The reconstructed score is a piano-vocal performance edition with dialogue, cues, scenery, costume and property plots indicated in detail. * TET r I wish to thank William Lichtenwanger of the Library of Congress for his assistance in locating many of the musical scores used in the preparation of the edition, and Mr. Lester Levy for his invaluable help in supplying me with reproductions of musical movements only available from his private collection. Also I wish to thank Dr. Thurman L. Morrison whose encouragement and initial suggestion gave rise to this project. This document was prepared as a master's thesis in musicology at North Texas State University. jtqlt: i i i =Ih CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii Chapter I RECONSTRUCTION OF THE LADY OF THE LAKE The Relationship to the Ballad Opera 1 The Music and Libretto 4 Development of "Hail to the Chief" 9 Composers and Librettist 11 Early Productions 16 II MUSIC OF THE LADY OF THE LAKE A Keyboard Score of the Reconstructed Work with Libretto 22 Critical Notes 129 APPENDIX 131 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES OF ADVERTISEMENT AND PRODUCTION DATES BIBLIOGRAPHY 134 v=*,,~ 1r A!iM0ss''Wi-%MNI*M[EWiEi!%i?)Ml%,Eigg|E.9A*9Pfati!Ei90N12'7F'l$1A.({lbisi%-PAW(,ifarWel'EaWIAtrarr-M99r--F.Emram--r,--C-4-.e."=--T.-MM-'.'rsof=Fsa--m--A-,00-- acader n..wei--2-24st...:--.-. --- 0----+2.--*4- =-4.=>.s..--.--e.u-...,.a -. u-=-re---s-=3-...-. r.ss.,--w-s-..r,.----:,.~.--.s.-.a -.. s..--.---r,-. - .4..------.---..-.-.----...-,..--..---.,.... ----..--- ,..-.-..-.-.-- ,. -- ,---.-. -.--.-.-.- s.,..,... -...... s..... .. .. .. .. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Table 1. Musical Numbers and Composers used in the Reconstructed Score 23 Plate 1. The Surrey Theatre, London, ca. 1810 5 2. The Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, ca. 1820 6 ,'9livii*Ve -NFFN'W-PIRA TPMelisi-1APTR'Si-'''ENE''fW"~* ----"--"''h~T's'"C'"'rem="'="l's"',wr-O''*"'re---''w-=m-r4"'r:-=-erMM-!-we--e=r-memen-.,an'em-a---m-------rar-wer------'-----------er--:,--war .--.r---:.---~:--:m-------.-,--:---.---:-.---- -- ,---------:,,-------,-.- =-. - - . - - -.-. -- - -. .- . - -- . ... .. ... ... .. ..... RECONSTRUCTION OF THE LADY OF THE LAKE The Relationship to the Ballad Opera The Lady of the Lake, in this first setting for the musical stage, is basically a ballad opera.' Comprised of an overture, arias and aria-like ballads, recitatives, trios, choruses, and later optional extemporized incidental music, the work also exhibits some early characteristics of Romantic musical theatre. These are the usage of extensive spoken dialogue, spectacle scenes, dances and marches, spoken dialogue accompanied by music, and a real or mythical setting in an earlier time. 2 The last, recalling man's great deeds and conflicts, utilizes nobility and honor as stimuli for plot and character development. The Lady of the Lake, though more romantic in nature, follows in the tradition of Gay's Beggar's Opera of 1728, Barker's The 1 Willi Apel, Harvard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, Mass., 1969), p. 72. "Ballad Opera, A popular form of eighteenth-century stage entertainment in England, consisting of spoken dialogue alternating'with musical numbers taken from ballad tunes, folksongs, or famous melodies by earlier or contemporary composers." 467. 2 C. Hugh Holman, "Romanticism," A Handbook to Literature (New York, 1972), p. 465 - 3 Donald J. Grout, A Short History of Opera (New York, 1965), p. 158. Indian Princess, 1808 4 and Benjamin Carr's The Archers or Mountaineers of Switzerland, 1796. It was first billed as "A New Grand Melo-Dramatic Romance in Two Acts."6 In spite of its romantic leanings, the idea of the Ballad Opera, in its original sense of altering English serious opera of the eighteenth century for the enjoyment of the masses, is still maintained in The Lady of the Lake. The work in Dibdin's setting uses an artful mixture of lengthy direct quotes from the original 1810 poem of Sir Walter Scott, as well as extensive paraphrases. The aspect of parody, however, in the sense of its present day meaning, is not fulfilled as The Lady of the Lake is quite sombre in its tone, and is very serious in its portrayal of the events that led to the subjugation of Sir Roderick Vich Alpine Dhu to Fitzjames I, regent of Scotland, 1394-1437.' 4 Ibid., 491-492. 5 Gilbert Chase, America's Music, From the Pilgrims to the Present, Rev. Second edition (New York, 1966), p. 118. 6 "Surrey Theatre," The London Times, 9-24-1810, p. 2, col. 5. Robert C. Pooley and George K. Anderson, Paul James and Helen Thornton. "The Triumph of the Romantic Revolt, Sir Walter Scott," England in Literature (Glenview, Illinois, 1968), 371-373. 8 "James I," Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropaedia (Chicago, 1976), V, 508. In his study of the English musical drama,' Michael Winesanker extensively described the beginnings, development, and culmination of the ballad opera until 1800. The Lady of the Lake was composed after the period covered by Winesanker, and is part of the period when the form was changed and assimilated into musical drama or musical theatre. By mid-century, ballad opera was no longer a major genre. Even though its libretto was taken from an earlier source, George F. Bristow's Rip Van Winkle, produced in 1855, is generally considered an opera. A notable exception, and really a re-incarnation, is Kurt Weill's Die Dreigroschenoper of 1928,," which mimics all of the elements of the early ballad opera. 9 Michael Winesanker, The Record of English Musical Drama, 1750-1800 (Ithaca, New York, 1944). 10 Chase, 329. 11 Apel, 72. ItCl 3==QA The Music and Libretto Sir Walter Scott wrote the epic poem of The Lady of the Lake in late 1809; the first published edition appeared in 1810. This work was produced during Scott's period of metrical romances and drew its subject matter from the medieval history of Scotland." The stage production of The Lady of the Lake, with libretto by Thomas Dibdin and music primarily by James Sanderson,' was mounted on Monday, 24 September 1810, at the Surrey Theatre (Plate 1) in London,14where it ran until 10 December. A "very ample success" for both Dibdin and the manager of the Surrey Theatre," The Lady of the Lake was then transferred to America, where it opened in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Street Theatre (Plate 2) on Wednesday, 1 January 1812. After its American premiere, the production was given frequent performances until 29 January 1812.1" The numerous subsequent productions in Philadelphia and other American cities will be discussed later in this study. 12 Pooley and Anderson, p. 372. 13 Donald William Krummel, Philadelphia Music Engraving and Publishing, 1800-1820: A study in Bibliography and Cultural History (Michigan, 1958), p. 348. Mr. Kummel postulates that The Lady of the Lake was actually a pastiche work and mainly composed of six set pieces written by Dr. John Clarke-Whitfeld, John Bray, John Whitaker, James Sanderson, and John Hook. 14 "Surrey Theatre," London Times, p. 2. 15 Thomas John Dibdin, The Reminiscences of Thomas Dibdin (New York, 1828), p. 199. In his letter to Thomas Henry, a friend and co-producer, Dibdin describes his success with The Lady of the Lake at the Surrey Theatre in London. 16. Charles Durang, A History of the Philadelphia Stage, from 1749-1855 (Philadelphia, 1854-8), p. 91, col. 2. 17 Aurora General Advertiser (Philadelphia, 1-29-1812), p. 3, col. 4. Co Fc0 0 C - iIL*~ ~jr~ I I ~ 4- II,, 4" om C4 I to Qa : ,tIae= 6 Oa , The Dibdin and Sanderson version of The Lady of the Lake is by no means the only dramatic setting of this popular Romantic story. Immediately following the Surrey Theatre success, a musical drama entitled The Knight of Snowdoun, with music by Henry Bishop and libretto by Thomas Morton, was performed at Covent Garden in 1811." Simultaneously, the producer-musical playwright Edmund John Eyre brought out a three-act version of The Lady of the Lake in New York City;,,numerous later versions of The Lady of the Lake are extant, but none of them date from as early a period as these two examples. The Dibdin libretto, used as the basis for the reconstruction of the edition found in Chapter Two, interprets the text of the Scott epic poem with reasonable accuracy. It does not utilize, however, all of the dramatic action or suggested musical numbers allowed for in the poem. Scott indicates twelve places in the text for the inclusion of set pieces. "Dibdin calls for music in only seven of them, and even three of that number are not specified in his libretto save for stage 18 Jerome Mitchell, The Walter Scott Operas, An Analysis of Operas Based on the Works of Sir Walter Scott (Tuscaloosa, 1977), p.